[TRW]

I have been using my 2018 700 kodiak in the woods every day for a couple of weeks. So it is a cold start in the morning and I get to the woods and do some TSI and start and move the machine 10 times for short 1 minute run times, but usually get it warmed up by the time I get back home at the end of the day, about a ten minute ride at 10 mph. Today when I checked the oil, I saw there was some white foam on the dip stick and a little swirl of moisture on the dip. The oil looked fine in general. Anyone got any idea if that is something I should be concerned about?

TSI stands for Timber Stand Improvement, and that is to cut out the undesirable trees, in the hope that the high quality trees get more light and nutrients. At some point years from now it will be a healthier more valuable timber stand.

 

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I have been using my 2018 700 kodiak in the woods every day for a couple of weeks. So it is a cold start in the morning and I get to the woods and do some TSI and start and move the machine 10 times for short 1 minute run times, but usually get it warmed up by the time I get back home at the end of the day, about a ten minute ride at 10 mph. Today when I checked the oil, I saw there was some white foam on the dip stick and a little swirl of moisture on the dip. The oil looked fine in general. Anyone got any idea if that is something I should be concerned about?

TSI stands for Timber Stand Improvement, and that is to cut out the undesirable trees, in the hope that the high quality trees get more light and nutrients. At some point years from now it will be a healthier more valuable timber stand.

i just went through the same thing a few weeks back. I was doing quite a bit of running the machine and not letting it get up to temp. I had to do some research to figure out why it was happening. I had a decent amount in mine. I wiped out as much as I could where the dipstick goes and ran it pretty good( the fan probably cycled a dozen times) when I checked it was all cleared up. Now if I just crank it to hear it run I make sure it comes up to temp before I shut it down. I haven’t had any condensation what so ever sense. It’ll clear up for you👍

 

[TRW]

OK, thanks for the input. Oil floats on water so I wondered if I had water under the oil, I can't see it as an issue, but wondered if it might plug up the oil pickup in the oil pan, as it would be ice after a cold night.

 

[Primethious]

If you ever have water in your oil then your oil will look like brown foam. Very nasty looking!

 

[Tirill]

Funny!
My 708 Kodiak has run ok the last year, but I use it for a lot of small trips most of the time. Now we have had cold temperatures here in Sweden last 3-4 weeks, and when I did check the oil level the other day I experienced exactly the same!
A bit of creamy white oil emulsion (mixture of oil and water) It was located to the dipstick and the hole in the block for it. Honestly I got a small chock when I firs saw it, but then luckily I started to investigate more thorough. No cooling liquid was actually missing from the expansion tank. Oil level was normal. I took out a bit of oil with a plastic hose and stand it settling over the night...no water at the bottom of the glass.

So, my conclusion is that this can happen during some weather conditions and when U drive maybe short periods and the engine/oil is getting completely hot. Also if U look at the design of the dipstick and the hole for it in the engine block with this 2" long pipe it is installed in, can make sense.
I will anyhow follow it up the coming period....

If this by any means is a problem, which I think is is not, I think U can prevent it by putting an small "hat" or a cloth tube like a sock etc over the dipstick. This helps to not cool down the dipstick so muck and there will not be any condensation on it even under quite short trips....

 

[TRW]

Thanks for the input and the info. From what I can tell you and I and anyone with this situation does not need to be concerned. I will try to get it warmed up after a long run soon!

 

[VmaxSteve]

This is perfectly normal. Moisture will tend to rise to the high points in the crank case and gather on things such as the dip stick/oil fill cap. I operate mine in just about every condition between -15* F and 95* F and I have the exact same thing. Just wipe it off when you check your oil. Even my truck does this same thing, but it gathers in the oil fill hole on the top of the valve cover. This is nothing to worry about. It is perfectly normal, especially when operating it in a variety of temperatures.